Daniel Dunglas Home Was never known to charge a fee for his spiritualist or mediumistic services. Was never known to "cheat" or trick his audience. Performed "impossible" feats - levitation, fire-handling, playing remote musical instruments: in good light and impromptu, even outdoors, before large groups of (well educated and `scientific') people. Most critics who actually witnessed his actions later testified to his honesty and "supernatural" abilities - Wm. Thackeray wrote : "I have seen what I would not have believed on your testimony, and what I cannot, therefore, expect you to accept on mine." (words of a shaken man, surely) Dr Ashburner, royal physician and Dr John Elliotson, (President of Royal Medical Society) had criticized Home but become converted to his beliefs - Sir William Crookes challenged Home and the `science media' predicted Home would be "debunked". But those same media later refused to print the actual results - Sir William tried his best but failed. He eventually wrote: "A medium walking into my dining-room cannot, while seated in one part of the room with a number of persons keenly watching him, by trickery make an accordian play in my own hand when I hold its keys downwards, or cause the same accordian to float about the room playing all the time." [The tune it played was was "Home, Sweet Home" !] Crookes tested Home's fire-handling capabilities also, and was amazed to see Home pick a burning coal from the fire-place and, cupping it in his hand, blow on it "until the flames licked out between his fingers." Home was also famous for levitating at request, Crookes said that about "a hundred people had seen Home floating about in the air" --------------------------------------------- Quotes from "In Search of the Dead" by Jeffrey Iverson ISBN 0-563-36123-9 --------------------------------------------- FURTHER REFERENCES GO - "search perceptions" - in SEARCH-ENGINE file-ID www.perceptions.couk.com/ddhome.txt